Systems and methods for providing automated customer order cross referencing

ABSTRACT

An auto cross-referencing functionality related to an order number directed to a product within an electronic catalog hosted by a vendor system is presented on a client computing device in a page providing an access point for ordering an item. The system allows a customer to enter a manufacturer, competitor, or other non-vendor specific ordering number into an ordering system and have the provided number transformed in-situ to the vendor&#39;s ordering number, either in real-time and/or through a batch-like process.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/693,676 entitled “Systems and Methods for ProvidingAutomated Customer Order Cross Referencing,” filed on Dec. 4, 2012, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present description relates generally to cross referencing asecondary item number, such as a manufacturer model number to a vendoritem number and more particularly to systems and methods for providingcustomer order cross referencing.

BACKGROUND OF RELATED ART

Currently, commerce suppliers and/or e-commerce related websites,whether business to business (B2B) or business to consumer (B2C),provide methods for a customer to navigate inventory. In particular, itis quite common for a large supplier or vendor, selling items from manydifferent manufacturers and/or distributors, to provide a unique vendoritem number (e.g., a catalog number, ordering number, inventory number,StockKeeping Unit (SKU), etc.) that corresponds to an item in thevendor's inventory system, and not necessarily to the manufacturer's orsecondary item number.

In such instances where the vendor item number does not match themanufacturer's number, cross reference functionality typically exists aspart of the general keyword search functionality of the vendor website.In these instances, the vendor website typically requires a customer toenter the part number, manufacturer's model number, etc., in a searchfield, to receive search results in a search page, and to peruse theresults to finally select the desired product to research and/or add tothe customers shopping cart. This searching capability, while sometimessufficient for finding the correct vendor catalog number, oftentimesyields an inconsistent customer experience by, for example, making itdifficult for the customer to quickly find and select the correctproduct easily and/or conveniently within the ordering process itself

Still further, in other instances a substantial number of orders on thevendor's website can originate from website functionality such as a“bulk order pad” or interactive shopping cart. In this instance, a formthat contains a table of entry fields, such as for example, a field forthe vendor's ordering number and its associated ordering quantity. Inthis manner, orders can be quickly placed, provided the customer has thevendor ordering number handy. Unfortunately, having a vendor's orderingnumber on hand may not always be feasible, requiring a separate customerlook-up step as detailed above.

Thus, while the background systems and methods identified herein,generally work for their intended purpose, the subject inventionprovides improvements thereto, particularly by a system in which acustomer can enter a manufacturer, competitor, or other non-vendorspecific ordering number into a bulk ordering system and have thosenumbers transformed in-situ to the vendor's item number, either inreal-time, near real-time, and/or through a batch-like process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present disclosure, reference may behad to various examples shown in the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates in block diagram form components of an example,computer network environment suitable for implementing example crossreferencing systems disclosed.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example page that provides an access point inwhich a customer can enter a manufacturer, competitor, or othernon-vendor specific ordering number into an ordering system.

FIG. 3 illustrates the example page of FIG. 2 showing the results ofdata look-up to cross reference the provided ordering number against aproduct database of the ordering system.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example page that provides an access point inwhich a customer can enter a manufacturer, competitor, or othernon-vendor specific ordering number into an ordering system.

FIG. 5 illustrates the example page of FIG. 4 showing the results ofdata look-up to cross reference the provided ordering number against aproduct database of the ordering system.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example page that provides an access point inwhich a customer can enter multiple manufacturer, competitor, or othernon-vendor specific ordering numbers into an ordering system.

FIG. 7 illustrates the example page of FIG. 6 showing the results ofdata look-up to cross reference the provided ordering numbers against aproduct database of the ordering system.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example page that provides an access point inwhich a customer can enter multiple manufacturer, competitor, or othernon-vendor specific item numbers into an ordering system.

FIG. 9 illustrates the example page of FIG. 8 showing the results ofdata look-up to cross reference the provided multiple item numbersagainst a product database of the ordering system in a list-styleformat.

FIG. 10 illustrates the example page of FIG. 8 showing the results ofdata look-up to cross reference the provided multiple item numbersagainst a product database of the ordering system in a direct productcomparison matrix format.

FIG. 11 illustrates in logic flow chart format the process of acceptingmultiple item numbers into an ordering system to displaying a directproduct comparison matrix of the products corresponding to the multipleitem numbers, as shown in FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description of example methods and apparatus is notintended to limit the scope of the description to the precise form orforms detailed herein. Instead the following description is intended tobe illustrative so that others may follow its teachings.

Systems and methods for providing cross referencing of a secondary itemnumber, such as a manufacturer model number, to a vendor catalog or itemnumber are described herein. In general, the example methods and systemsprovide the customer with the ability to enter a vendor catalog numberand/or a manufacturer model number, and confirm the item order, all in asingle user interface, thereby adding an item to the customer's purchaseorder. While the present disclosure commonly refers to an “orderingsystem,” it will be understood that the ordering system may be any orderand/or item entry, look-up, search, or order system as is well known inthe art. Furthermore, the ordering system does not necessarily mean thatthe user must be placing an actual order at the time of usage, butrather may be discovering and/or search for an item as well.

As generally known, the distribution of a cross reference databaseillustrates that a substantial number of vendor catalog numbers crossreference (e.g. map) to only one, two, or three other model numbers. Forexample, a manufacturer model number XYZ123 may map to exactly onevendor item number. There are many of these one-to-one mappings in atypical vendor database. There are also a substantial number of caseswhere there is a one-to-two or a one-to-many mapping relationship. Thatis, a manufacturer model number may map to two, three, or multipledifferent vendor item numbers. For instance, manufacturer A might have amodel number ABC 123 that maps to a vendor's item number 1A123 (e.g., anamber barricade lamp), while manufacturer B might have the same modelnumber, ABC123, that maps to vendor's item number 4WT09 (e.g., AAbatteries).

The disclosed systems and methods provide for a simplified userinterface to assist a customer in finding and/or selecting the correctvendor item number. For example, in a one-to-one mapping scenario, acustomer may select or otherwise place their cursor into a userinterface having an ordering number input field on a bulk order pad orother suitable order field, and enter ABC123, a manufacturer's modelnumber. As the customer takes focus off the input field, such as by wayof example, by selecting or placing the cursor in the correspondingquantity input field, an automated cross reference function may executeand recognize the one-to-one cross reference mapping and replace theoriginally entered ABC 123 with the vendor's ordering number of 1A123.In at least one example of the present disclosure, if aftertransformation the cross reference is determined to be incorrect, thecustomer can indicate so by clicking on an “incorrect”, “undo”,“lookup”, and/or other suitable button in the confirmation productinformation area to remove and/or investigate the entry. Clicking on a“select” or similar button keeps and accepts the transformation.

Similarly, where there is a one-to-many mapping scenario, an examplecustomer may select and/or otherwise place their cursor into an orderingnumber input field and enter a manufacturer's model number such asXYZ123. Upon entering the manufacturer's number, the example system mayperform a lookup to return a listing and/or display of the possiblematches corresponding to the entered information. The customer, alreadyknowing what they want to order but not knowing the vendor's itemnumber, can select the correct vendor item they wish to order from theinformation provided.

It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that thereare numerous interface conventions to allow a customer to pick one ofthe matches. For example, each of the matches may be displayed in apop-up, which may display a product image and/or product information foreach matched product, either singularly or separately. Once presented tothe user the customer may be provided with the opportunity to “select”and/or otherwise choose the correct product, such as for example,through the use of radio buttons.

In still further examples, a bulk listing, such as a copy-and-pastelisting, can be utilized to create a delimited list of item numbers andcorresponding ordering quantities, such as by way of example, by copyingfrom a customer's computing device a prepared list and pasting the listinto an input box on the vendors site, the vendor's site being atraditional server or even a mobile application. In this instance, inbatch, real-time, and/or near real-time, the entire list of enteredproducts can be redisplayed with choice buttons being displayed wherethere is more than one match corresponding to each original inputordering number. In this example, the traditional keyword searchfunction and perusal of associated search results may be avoidedaltogether, and as such the process of placing orders may be quicker forcustomers for a large number of their orders.

In still other examples, it will be appreciated that other input methodsare possible, such as voice, barcode, QR code scanning, etc. Moreover,it will be understood that additional query logic may enhance the crossreferencing logic as desired. For example, a manufacturer's model numbermight include leading zeroes that may be dropped upon entering the modelnumber into the ordering location. In this instance, if an initial crossreference attempt yields a null result, the search may be repeated byadding at least one leading zero (or other character as desired) toattempt to yield a matching product. It will be further appreciated thatthe database search may include additional logic to include close,relevant, related, and/or suggested search results to provide a greaterlikelihood of finding the cross referenced product.

With reference to the figures, and more particularly, with reference toFIG. 1, the following discloses various example systems and methods forproviding cross referencing on a computer network, such as a personalcomputer or mobile device. To this end, a processing device 20″,illustrated in the exemplary form of a mobile communication device, aprocessing device 20′, illustrated in the exemplary form of a computersystem, and a processing device 20 illustrated in schematic form, areprovided with executable instructions to, for example, provide a meansfor a customer, e.g., a user, client, corporate shopper, buyer,consumer, etc., to access a host system server 68 and, among otherthings, be connected to a hosted vendor purchasing system, e.g., awebsite, mobile application, etc. Generally, the computer executableinstructions reside in program modules which may include routines,programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that performparticular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that theprocessing devices 20, 20′, 20″ illustrated in FIG. 1 may be embodied inany device having the ability to execute instructions such as, by way ofexample, a personal computer, a mainframe computer, a personal-digitalassistant (“PDA”), a cellular telephone, a mobile device, a tablet, anereader, or the like. Furthermore, while described and illustrated inthe context of a single processing device 20, 20′, 20″ those of ordinaryskill in the art will also appreciate that the various tasks describedhereinafter may be practiced in a distributed environment havingmultiple processing devices linked via a local or wide-area networkwhereby the executable instructions may be associated with and/orexecuted by one or more of multiple processing devices.

For performing the various tasks in accordance with the executableinstructions, the example processing device 20 includes a processingunit 22 and a system memory 24 which may be linked via a bus 26. Withoutlimitation, the bus 26 may be a memory bus, a peripheral bus, and/or alocal bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. As needed for anyparticular purpose, the system memory 24 may include read only memory(ROM) 28 and/or random access memory (RAM) 30. Additional memory devicesmay also be made accessible to the processing device 20 by means of, forexample, a hard disk drive interface 32, a magnetic disk drive interface34, and/or an optical disk drive interface 36. As will be understood,these devices, which would be linked to the system bus 26, respectivelyallow for reading from and writing to a hard disk 38, reading from orwriting to a removable magnetic disk 40, and for reading from or writingto a removable optical disk 42, such as a CD/DVD ROM or other opticalmedia. The drive interfaces and their associated computer-readable mediaallow for the nonvolatile storage of computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules, and other data for the processingdevice 20. Those of ordinary skill in the art will further appreciatethat other types of non-transitory computer-readable media that canstore data and/or instructions may be used for this same purpose.Examples of such media devices include, but are not limited to, magneticcassettes, flash memory cards, digital videodisks, Bernoulli cartridges,random access memories, nano-drives, memory sticks, and other read/writeand/or read-only memories.

A number of program modules may be stored in one or more of thememory/media devices. For example, a basic input/output system (BIOS)44, containing the basic routines that help to transfer informationbetween elements within the processing device 20, such as duringstart-up, may be stored in ROM 28. Similarly, the RAM 30, hard drive 38,and/or peripheral memory devices may be used to store computerexecutable instructions comprising an operating system 46, one or moreapplications programs 48 (such as a Web browser), other program modules50, and/or program data 52. Still further, computer-executableinstructions may be downloaded to one or more of the computing devicesas needed, for example via a network connection.

To allow a user to enter commands and information into the processingdevice 20, input devices such as a keyboard 54 and/or a pointing device56 are provided. While not illustrated, other input devices may includea microphone, a joystick, a game pad, a scanner, a camera, touchpad,touch screen, etc. These and other input devices would typically beconnected to the processing unit 22 by means of an interface 58 which,in turn, would be coupled to the bus 26. Input devices may be connectedto the processor 22 using interfaces such as, for example, a parallelport, game port, firewire, or a universal serial bus (USB). To viewinformation from the processing device 20, a monitor 60 or other type ofdisplay device may also be connected to the bus 26 via an interface,such as a video adapter 62. In addition to the monitor 60, theprocessing device 20 may also include other peripheral output devices,not shown, such as, for example, speakers, cameras, printers, or othersuitable device.

As noted, the processing device 20 may also utilize logical connectionsto one or more remote processing devices, such as the host system server68 having associated data repository 68A. The example data repository68A may include any suitable vendor data including, for example,customer/company information, electronic catalog pages, inventor, etc.In this example, the data repository G8A includes a listing of aplurality of products that are available for purchase. Each of theproducts includes a vendor item number, and may include an associatedsecondary item number or description, such as a manufacturer's modelnumber, a keyword description, barcode, etc. In this regard, while thehost system server 68 has been illustrated in the exemplary form of acomputer, it will be appreciated that the host system server 68 may,like processing device 20, be any type of device having processingcapabilities. Again, it will be appreciated that the host system server68 need not be implemented as a single device but may be implemented ina manner such that the tasks performed by the host system server 68 aredistributed amongst a plurality of processing devices/databases locatedat different geographical locations and linked through a communicationnetwork. Additionally, the host system server 68 may have logicalconnections to other third party systems via a network 12, such as, forexample, the Internet, LAN, MAN, WAN, cellular network, cloud network,enterprise network, virtual private network, wired and/or wirelessnetwork, or other suitable network, and via such connections, will beassociated with data repositories that are associated with such otherthird party systems. Such third party systems may include, withoutlimitation, systems of banking, credit, or other financial institutions,systems of third party providers of goods and/or services, systems ofshipping/delivery companies, etc.

For performing tasks as needed, the host system server 68 may includemany or all of the elements described above relative to the processingdevice 20. In addition, the host system server 68 would generallyinclude executable instructions for, among other things, facilitatingthe ordering of a vendor product, facilitating a cross reference ofinventory numbers, facilitating recommendations, providing access tomerchandise purchasing, etc.

Communications between the processing device 20 and the host systemserver 68 may be exchanged via a further processing device, such as anetwork router (not shown), that is responsible for network routing.Communications with the network router may be performed via a networkinterface component 73. Thus, within such a networked environment, e.g.,the Internet, World Wide Web, LAN, cloud, or other like type of wired orwireless network, it will be appreciated that program modules depictedrelative to the processing device 20, or portions thereof, may be storedin the non-transitory memory storage device(s) of the host system server68.

As noted above, in the present example, a customer generally interactswith the host system server 68 to order/purchase goods of interest. Tofacilitate this process, the host system server 68 provides access tovarious product ordering input methods, including, for example, a singleitem input, a bulk ordering pad, and/or a list importation method thatis made conveniently accessible on a page, such as a mobile applicationpage, webpage, etc. displayed on the client computing device. Moreparticularly, as illustrated in the example page, i.e. a webpage 200 ofFIG. 2, the host system server 68 provides in direct association with aninventory maintained in the data repository 68A, an access point 202,203 presented in the form of a user interface (graphical user interface,web-based user interface, touchscreen user interface, etc), such as atleast one text box, by which the customer may enter an item identifyingnumber and/or an associated order quantity.

In the illustrated example of FIGS. 2-3, the access point 202 comprisesa plurality of separate text boxes 202 a, 202 b, each corresponding toone of an order quantity (202 a) or an order item number (202 b).Meanwhile the example access point 203 comprises a single input text box203 a that allows for a single bulk entry of parseable text. In thisinstance, each access point 202, 203 provides an entry method by which acustomer may input order information, including item number and itemquantity, to conveniently purchase goods from the vendor. It will beappreciated that the form, location, etc., of the access point 202, 203may be displayed and/or vary as desired by design, and/or by displaytype (e.g., mobile device, personal computer, tablet, etc.). Stillfurther, the type and/or manner of inputting the order information maybe any suitable entry method including text, voice, picture, scanner,motion, etc.

In the present example, a customer enters any suitable item number knownto the customer in the corresponding access point 202 b or 203 a toinitiate a purchase process. For instance, referring to the example ofFIG. 3, there is illustrated an example of a customer entering an itemnumber such as item number “1A123” into the access point 202 b. Byentering the item number information into the access point 202 b, thesystem host server 68 causes a look-up of the item number in the datarepository 68A. It will be appreciated that the triggering event toperform the look-up of the item number in the data repository 68A may becaused by any suitable action, including for example, a change in theuser interface focus, an activation of the access point by being clickedon, moused over, touched, and/or otherwise selected, a time delay, areal-time look-up, near real-time look-up, and/or any other suitableevent trigger.

Upon the server 68 performing an item number look-up in the datarepository 68A, the server 68 returns all matched and/or closely relatedsearch results to the window 200. For instance, in the example of FIG.3, the server 68 performs a look-up on the item code “ABC 123” andreturns an item match on the vendor item number “1A123”, a barricadelight. As previously described, in the instance where the inputted itemnumber corresponds directly to a vendor item number in the vendorcatalog, the entered item number remains unchanged.

If, however, the system 68 determines that the entered item number needsto be cross referenced to a vendor item number stored in the datarepository 68A, the system 68 causes the window 200 to display thereturned results to the customer in various user interface elements suchas a dialog box, in the form of a pop-up window 300, or any othersuitable user interface element display. In the present example, thewindow 300 provides the customer with identifying information to assistthe customer in identifying the desired item cross referenced againstthe vendor item numbers. For instance, in the example window 300, thecustomer is provided with an image 302, a description 304, a brandidentifier 306, a manufacturer item number 308, an availabilityindicator 310, and a unit price 312. It will be appreciated that theinformation provided to the customer may be any suitable identifyinginformation including, for instance, a catalog page, a membershipreward, a vendor item number, a discount, a manual, etc. Still further,the provided information may include links, pages, and/or other methodsof providing additional information regarding the product as desired,such as a browse and/or other “look-up” button, a further pop-up, etc.In at least one example, the additional information causes the system 68to redirect to a further page, including a page located within thevendor system 68 and/or a further page located within a system of athird party (e.g. another manufacturer).

To allow the customer to select and/or otherwise confirm or identify theintended product, the example window 300 includes a selectable button orother means of indicating the correct or incorrect identification of theintended product (e.g., a check box, radio button, list box, drop downlist box, etc.). Specifically, in the illustrated example, the window300 includes a confirmation button 320 (e.g., “Select”) and a cancelbutton 322 (e.g., “Incorrect”). In this example, by choosing theconfirmation button 320, the customer can indicate that the retrievedand displayed item is the correct intended item, and allow the system 68to replace the inputted item number with the correctly retrieved vendoritem number in the access point 202 b. By choosing the cancel button322, however, the customer can indicate that the retrieved and displayedproduct is incorrect upon which the page may allow the inputted itemnumber to be edited by the customer, allow the customer to browse orotherwise identify the product through the original website, and/orinitiate a separate look-up identification process.

In the illustrated example of FIGS. 4-5, a customer again may enter anysuitable item number known to the customer in the corresponding accesspoint 202 b to initiate a purchase process. For instance, in thisexample, the customer enters an item number such as item number “XYZ123”into the access point 202 b, wherein the entered item number crossreferences to multiple vendor item numbers stored in the data repository68A. Specifically, in this occasion, the system host server 68 causes alook-up of the entered item number in the data repository 68A, andreturns multiple (e.g., two) matched and/or closely related searchresults to the window 200. Again, the system 68 causes the window 200 todisplay the returned results to the customer in a dialog box, such asfor example two separate pop-up windows 500 and 502, each correspondingto one of the returned items.

As with the previous example, each of the example windows 500, 502provides the customer with identifying information to assist thecustomer in identifying the desired item cross referenced against thevendor item numbers. For instance, in each of the example windows 500,502, the customer is provided with an image 504 a, 504 b, a description506 a, 506 b, a brand identifier 508 a, 508 b, a manufacturer itemnumber 510 a, 510 b, an availability indicator 512 a, 512 b, and a unitprice 514 a, 514 b.

Similar to the display of a single product as in FIGS. 2 and 3, in thisexample, to allow the customer to select and/or otherwise confirm oridentify the intended product, each of the example windows 500, 502includes a confirmation button 520 a, 520 b (e.g., “Select”) to selectthe specific product identified in the corresponding window 500, 502,and a cancel button 522 a, 522 b (e.g., “All Incorrect”) to identifythat none of the displayed products are the intended item. As will theother examples disclosed herein, by choosing any of the confirmationbuttons 520 a, 520 b, the customer can indicate that the correspondingitem is the correct intended item, and that the system 68 can replacethe inputted item number with the correctly retrieved correspondingvendor item number in the access point 202 b. Adversely, by choosingeither of the cancel buttons 522 a, 522 b, the customer can convenientlyindicate that all of the retrieved and displayed products are incorrect,and as previously described, allow the customer to edit and/or otherwiseresearch the correct item number. Once all the items have beensuccessfully cross referenced, processing of the order may be undertakenutilizing any suitable purchasing process such as, for example, ashopping cart order processing model.

Likewise, in the illustrated example of FIGS. 6-7, a customer may entera bulk order in the corresponding access point 203 to initiate apurchase process of one or many items. It will be appreciated that thebulk order process may be any suitable list and/or data entry format toallow the customer to conveniently enter one or more orders into theorder process such as a “Quantity [TAB or COMMA] Item #” format. In thisexample, the access point 203 a permits a customer to enter the quantityand item number of two desired products as “1, ABC123” and “2, XYZ123”.Due to the nature of allowing multiple inputs into the access point 203a, the example access point will typically not trigger a cross referencelook-up until the entirety of the list is entered, and focus is removedfrom the access pint 203 a via any suitable means, including forinstance, selection of another user interface such as an “Add to Order”selection button 600. It will be understood, however, that thetriggering event for a cross reference look-up may be any suitabletriggering event including, real-time, near real-time, predeterminedtime delay, etc.

In this example, once triggered, the system host server 68 causes alook-up of each of the entered item numbers in the data repository 68Aagainst any suitable date repository field, and returns informationregarding any items that require authentication and/or confirmation fromthe customer. In the illustrated example of FIG. 7, the server 68returns cross referenced (e.g., matched and/or closely related items)for both of the entered item numbers in a results window 700.

As with the previous examples, in this instance, the system 68 causesthe window 700 to display the returned results to the customer in adialog box, such as for example a single separate pop-up windowincluding information corresponding to each of the returned items. Inparticular, as illustrated, the window 700 includes a first portion 702,and a second portion 704. The first portion 702 provides the customerwith identifying information to assist the customer in identifying thefirst of the items for which a cross referenced item was found, whilethe second portion 704 provides the customer with identifyinginformation to assist the customer in identifying the second of theitems for which a cross referenced item was found. It will beappreciated that the number of displayed portions and/or items may varyaccording to the number of items requiring confirmation and/or thenumber of possible matched items returned. In this instance, the displaymay be scrollable, selectable, navigable, etc. as desired.

As with the previously described examples, in the example window portion702, the customer is again provided with information to assist inidentifying the desired product purchase including, for example, animage 720, a description 722, a brand identifier 724, a manufactureritem number 726, an availability indicator 728, and a unit price 730.Additionally, to allow the customer to select and/or otherwise confirmor identify the intended product, the example window portion 702includes a selectable confirmation button 732 (e.g., “Select”) and acancel button 734 (e.g., “Incorrect”).

Similarly, to allow the customer to select and/or otherwise confirm oridentify the intended product associated with multiple product returns,the example window portion 704 includes multiple products havingidentifying information including an image 740 a, 740 b, a description742 a, 742 b, a brand identifier 744 a, 744 b, a manufacturer itemnumber 746 a, 746 b, an availability indicator 748 a, 748 b, and a unitprice 750 a, 750 b. Additionally to allow the customer to quickly selectthe desired product, the example window portion 704 identifies each ofthe returned products by a radio button 752 a, 752 b. If one of theradio buttons is selected, a confirmation button 754 (e.g., “Select”)may be activated to select the specific product identified by theidentified radio button. Alternatively a cancel button 756 (e.g., “AllIncorrect”) may be utilized to identify that none of the displayedproducts within the relevant window portion are the intended item.

In the illustrated examples of FIGS. 8-10, a customer can enter multiplevendor and/or secondary ordering numbers (e.g., item numbers) into anaccess point 800 that comprises a single input text box 802 that allowsfor a single bulk entry of parseable text, to conveniently purchase,look-up, search for, or otherwise inquire about goods from the vendor.It will be appreciated that the form, location, etc., of the accesspoint 800 may be displayed and/or vary as desired by design, and/or bydisplay type (e.g., mobile device, personal computer, tablet, etc.).Still further, the type and/or manner of inputting the order informationmay be any suitable entry method including text, voice, picture,scanner, motion, etc.

In the present example, a customer enters any suitable item numbersknown to the customer in the corresponding access point 800 to initiatea purchase process. For instance, referring to the example of FIG. 8,there is illustrated an example of a customer entering item numbers“ABC321” and “XYZ987” into the access point 800. By entering the itemnumbers into the access point 800, the system host server 68 causes alook-up of the item numbers in the data repository 68A. It will beappreciated that the triggering event to perform the look-up of the itemnumbers in the data repository 68A may be caused by any suitable action,including for example, a change in the user interface focus, anactivation of the access point by being clicked on, moused over,touched, and/or otherwise selected, a time delay, a real-time look-up,near real-time look-up, and/or any other suitable event trigger.

Upon the server 68 performing an item numbers look-up in the datarepository 68A, and upon the server 68 cross referencing the itemnumbers to vendor item numbers stored in the data repository 68A (ifnecessary), the server 68 may return the matched (i.e., exact match)and/or closely related (i.e., functional match) search results,collectively, the returned product matches, to a list window 900 havinga list style format, as shown in FIG. 9.

The list style format permits a customer to view various groups ofproduct attributes of the exact and/or functional matches for the inputitem numbers regardless of whether the corresponding returned productmatches for the item numbers belong to the same product category. Suchexample product attributes include product match type 902, a productrating 904, a product name 906, product description 908, a productweight, a product price, etc. The list style format may also contain aproduct image 910, a quantity text entry box 912, in which the customerinputs the quantity of a particular item that he or she would like topurchase, and/or an “add to cart” button 914 or similar button that thecustomer can select to add the requested quantity of one or more itemsto the customer's virtual shopping cart for eventual purchase. One ofordinary skill in the art will appreciate that not all of these productattributes or features need be present in the list style format to bewithin the scope of the present disclosure and that additional productattributes may be included in the list style format without departingfrom the spirit of the present disclosure.

Still further, if insufficient information regarding a non-vendorproduct is stored within the data repository 68A, additional informationregarding the item in question may alternatively be retrieved from theelectronic catalog and/or database of a third party, and/or through anyavailable search engine by any suitable retrieval method. For example,the third party data may be retrieved as disclosed by the systems andmethods in U.S. Pat. No. 7,546,289, herein incorporated by reference inits entirety.

In this example, the list style format also includes a product attributesearch window 916. The product attribute search window 916 permits thecustomer to view only those exact and/or functional matches (i.e.,returned product matches) in the list that have certain productattributes selected by the customer. For example, a first parameter 918might correspond to product price. The first parameter 918 may haveseveral constituent parameter options, denoted 920 a, 920 b, and 920 ccorresponding to different prices or price ranges. The customer canselect the prices or price ranges of products that he or she would liketo display in the list window 900 by clicking, mousing over, orotherwise triggering the selection of the one or more parameter optionsfrom the product attribute search window 916. In this way, the customercan limit which exact and/or functional matches are displayed in thelist window 900. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate thatthe product attribute search window 916 may contain multiple parameters(as shown in FIG. 9) in addition to or instead of product price,including, for example, product type, product color, product weight,etc.

Alternatively, upon the server 68 performing a item numbers look-up inthe data repository 68A, the server 68 may return all matched and/orclosely related search results to a direct product comparison matrixwindow 1000 comprising a direct product comparison matrix, as shown inFIG. 10. The direct product comparison matrix window 1000 may presentthe matched (i.e., exact match) and/or closely related (i.e., functionalmatch) search results, collectively the returned product matches, forthe input item numbers, namely, in this example, “ABC123” and “XYZ987.”

The format of the direct product comparison matrix window 1000 permits acustomer to easily compare various groups of product attributes of theexact and/or functional matches (i.e., returned product matches) for theinput item numbers, including, for example, product match type 1002, aproduct rating 1004, a product description 1006, a product weight 1008,a product price 1010, a product brand name 1012, etc. The direct productcomparison matrix window 1000 may also contain a product image 1014, aquantity text entry box 1016, in which the customer inputs the quantityof a particular item that he or she would like to purchase, and/or an“add to cart” button 1018 or similar button that the customer can selectto add the requested quantity of one or more items to the customer'svirtual shopping cart for eventual purchase. One of ordinary skill inthe art will appreciate that not all of the aforementioned parameters orfeatures need be present in the direct product comparison matrix window1000 to be within the scope of the present disclosure and that anadditional parameter 1022, or parameters may be included in the directproduct comparison matrix without departing from the spirit of thepresent disclosure.

At times, the direct product comparison matrix window 1000 may displayone or more products that the customer does not desire to view and/orpurchase. In such cases, the customer may wish to remove such one ormore products from the direct product comparison matrix window 1000.Thus, in some examples, including the example shown in FIG. 10, thedirect product comparison matrix window 1000 contains a “remove” button1020 or similar button that the customer can select (via any suitableselection mechanism, e.g., mouse click, mouse over, etc.) to remove aproduct from the direct product comparison matrix window 1000.Alternatively, if the direct product comparison matrix window 1000displays one or more products that the customer does not desire to viewand/or purchase, the customer may also utilize an “undo,” “revise,” orsimilar feature that permits the customer to select alternative oradditional products for display in the direct product comparison matrixwindow 1000 that the customer would like to view and/or purchase.

In the examples shown in FIGS. 8-10, the server 68 will cause the clientcomputing device to display a direct product comparison matrix accordingto the process set forth in the logical flow chart shown in FIG. 11. Inthis example, at the start block 1100, the server 68 is prepared for thecustomer to input multiple item numbers. Next, the customer inputsmultiple item numbers at block 1102. To the extent the item numbers arenot vendor item numbers, the server 68 cross references the item numbersto vendor item numbers stored in the data repository 68A at block 1104,or through any suitable third party search routine as noted above. Theserver 68 then determines whether the exact and/or functional matchesbelong to the same product category at block 1106. If the exact and/orfunctional matches belong to the same product category, then the server68 causes such exact and/or functional matches to be displayed in adirect product comparison matrix window, as disclosed in the example ofFIG. 10, at block 1108. Otherwise, the server 68 causes such exactand/or functional matches to be displayed in another suitable format,for example, the list style format of FIG. 9. The process to determinewhether the server 68 will cause to be displayed a direct productcomparison matrix is complete at block 1110.

Although certain example methods and apparatus have been describedherein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. Onthe contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus, and articles ofmanufacture fairly falling within the scope of the appended claimseither literally or under the doctrine of equivalents.

We claim:
 1. A non-transient, computer readable media having storedthereon instructions for providing access to an automated crossreferencing functionality related to a customer order within anelectronic vendor system, the instructions performing steps comprising:storing in a data repository a listing of a plurality of products thatare available for purchase, wherein each of the plurality of products isdirectly associated with a vendor item number and wherein each of theplurality of products is capable of being associated with at least oneof a secondary item number or a description; causing a page to bedisplayed on a client computing device, the page comprising an orderaccess point in which an order number corresponding to a desired item isenterable; in response to an entering of the order number in the orderaccess point causing the vendor system to query the data repository tocross reference the entered order number with the vendor item number andto query the data repository to cross reference the entered order numberwith at least one of the secondary item number or the description ofeach of the plurality of products, and obtain a subset of relevantproducts associated with the entered order number when the entered ordernumber does not correspond to a specific vendor item number stored inthe data repository; causing a plurality of user interface elements,each corresponding to one of the subset of relevant products to bepresented on the client computing device; and in response to a selectionof one of the user interface elements from the presented plurality ofuser interface elements causing a performance by the vendor system toreplace the entered order number in the order access point with thevendor item number associated with the one of the subset of relevantproducts corresponding to the selected one of user interface elements.2. A computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the orderaccess point is a text box.
 3. A computer-readable media as recited inclaim 2, wherein the text box is a parseable text box adapted to allowfor input of a plurality of order numbers.
 4. A computer-readable mediaas recited in claim 1, wherein entering the order number comprises atleast one of text input, voice response, barcode reading, or scanning 5.A computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein selection ofthe one of the user interface elements comprises at least one of aninput device selection, a client computing device tap, a clientcomputing device movement, or a client computing device touch.
 6. Acomputer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the obtainedsubset of relevant products associated with the entered order numberincludes information representative of each of the products.
 7. Acomputer-readable media as recited in claim 6, wherein the informationincludes at least one of an image, a description, a brand identifier, amanufacturer item number, an availability indicator, or a unit price. 8.A computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein each of theuser interface elements comprises a link selectable to invoke a furtheruser interface to provide additional information regarding the relevantproduct corresponding to the user interface element.
 9. Acomputer-readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein the additionalinformation is a catalog page from a catalog on which resides therelevant product.
 10. A computer-readable media as recited in claim 8,wherein selection of the link causes the vendor system to redirect to afurther page.
 11. A computer-readable media as recited in claim 10,wherein the further page is located within the vendor system.
 12. Acomputer-readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein the further pageis located within a system of a third party.
 13. A computer-readablemedia as recited in claim 1, wherein the user interface elements arepresented in a pop-up window within the client computing device.
 14. Acomputer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the userinterface elements are presented in a portion of the displayed page. 15.A computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein causing thevendor system to query the data repository to cross reference theentered order number with the vendor item number is triggered in asubstantially real-time basis.
 16. A non-transient, computer readablemedia having stored thereon instructions for providing access to anautomated cross referencing functionality related to a customer orderwithin an electronic vendor system, the instructions performing stepscomprising: storing in a data repository a listing of a plurality ofproducts that are available for purchase, wherein each of the pluralityof products is directly associated with a vendor item number and whereineach of the plurality of products is capable of being associated with atleast one of a secondary item number or a description; causing a page tobe displayed on a client computing device, the page comprising an orderaccess point in which an order number corresponding to a desired item isenterable; in response to an entering of the order number in the orderaccess point causing the vendor system to query the data repository tocross reference the entered order number with the vendor item number andto query the data repository to cross reference the entered order numberwith at least one of the secondary item number or the description ofeach of the plurality of products, and obtain a subset of relevantproducts associated with the entered order number when the entered ordernumber does not correspond to a specific vendor item number stored inthe data repository; causing at least one group of product attributes,each of the at least one group of product attributes corresponding toeach of at least one returned product matches to be presented on theclient computing device in a direct product comparison matrix window.